Parasite Eve: Redux
by Specter
Summary: The final word in PE fics. All your burning questions will be answered... And it doesn't involve Kyle (much)! Rated R for language and lots o' violence :) (Note: Read and review Chapter IV. It builds character(s).)
1. Out of the Darkness...

Author's note: If you're gonna break the rules of "no writer-made characters" and "no alternate dimensions", do it all at once and in a big way! Here's what's going on: This takes place a few years after the end (pick an ending, any ending!) of the game. Eve lives at MIST headquarters (but for how long?), and Rupert is now in charge. A note: not all the ANMCs were destroyed, and the same goes for the GOLEMs. Fun! If you're an Aya fanatic... she really doesn't have much of a bigger part than any of the other hunters. If I've just offended you, stop reading now. ::^-^:: Special thanks to Specter the Evil Penguin for picking a number at random for my GOLEM!

Second Author's note: w00t! Specter here, and I just wanna say that I take (almost) no responsibility for the content contained herein. I only wrote about half of this story, and as such, have little or no say over the vast majority subject matter. So, that said, take off your jacket, let your hair down, buckle your safety belt, and keep all limbs inside the computer until the story has come to a full and complete stop. (Like that ever happens.)

**[Parasite Eve: Redux]**

_In a forgotten corner of the Shelter, a door marked "GOLEM Freezer #2: Restricted Access". Inside, the cold air bites at a few unmoving forms, viewed at one time through a glass wall. A movement at the window, and machinery whines, forcing frost off the hinges as it moves. Little lights glow, indicating life goes on even in the most God-forsaken of places. Places where men create mockeries of life with chemicals and a map that they do not even comprehend. A syringe in the back of each forms' neck, and the restraints swing free, letting the forms stoop stiffly. Some move, straightening their spines and warming their joints, then stand, completely still, lacking orders. Others slide down to the arctic floor and lay still. And one more sits against it's life-giving machine and drums it's fingers on the frigid floor, alive but unwilling to move. Outside, more movements, and the cold air hisses out of the doorway, turning to mist as it clashes with the warm air. _

_*****_**__**

**_Chapter I: Out of the Darkness_**

****

_I hear beyond the range of sound,_

_I see beyond the range of sight,_

_New earths and skies and seas around,_

_And in my day the sun doth pale his light._

_-Henry David Thoreau_

*****

...Shelter...

King GOLEM No. 9 was seriously considering putting his fist through the computer screen. He had been searching for the codes the needed to get the Shelter fully up and running, and off of Emergency Power Mode. He was sure that the well-hidden file named "fcodeb" was the right file. It had the word "code" in it, but sort of disguised by the other letters. So the had opened the folder.

That was fifteen minutes ago. There was a seemingly never-ending string of the same four letters in random: "AGCT". Finally, No. 9's patience had worn too thin.

So he used what he had learned was the best response to any terminal computer situation. "YOSHIDA!!!" 

There was a yell of surprise from a nearby room, then a young man with mussed black hair, disshelved glasses, and a permanently vexed expression ran through the door. "What? What did you do to them this time?" He demanded. 

No. 9 rose to his full eight feet height and shoved Yoshida into the chair. "Yer the programmer. Fix the damn thing." The King had learned there was no teaching Yoshida to use any sort of respect for anyone who harmed "his" computers. Besides, computers seemed to soothe the programmer's constantly edgy nerves.

Yoshida adjusted his glasses and peered into the screen. His eyes looked almost unfocused, like a soothsayer scrying in a crystal ball. Of course, No. 9 knew that Yoshida was just thinking. "It's running some type of code. You see that bar down there? It's trying to load something. Actually, it's almost finished. Where did you find this?"

No. 9 started to answer, but Yoshida was already ignoring him. "Hey, what kind of programming language is this? Only four letters, no numbers... How's the computer supposed to read this?"

"Maybe it's not for a computer." No. 9 guessed, feeling rather stupid. Computers were for other people to operate for him, as far as he was concerned. However, that gibberish looked familiar.

"'Maybe it's not for a'-" Yoshida scoffed, then stopped, leaned back in the chair, quickly cleaned his glasses, and crouched close to the screen again. "Well, what the--? You know, I think you're right! Lessee, how's it go... 'adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thiamine.' This file's huge! That means... but who would...?"

Getting annoyed, the King GOLEM gripped Yoshida's shoulder. "Means what? Who would do what?" He interrogated.

Yoshida blinked and swallowed hard. "Uhh... I think someone wrote out their entire DNA strand. The only reason they would go through all that trouble is if they were going to be cloned. We've got other files like this. Like 'mcodeb', 'acodeb', and of course, 'mcodep.'"

"...Which is?"

"The genetic codes for Maya and Aya Brea, and Mellissa Pearce, essentially. They have the first letter of the first name in front, then 'code', and the last letter is the first letter of their last name." An alert box appeared on the screen, announcing the file had finished loading. "So what do we do with this?"

No. 9 grinned. "We find out who's initials are 'F. B.', for starters."

*****

...GOLEM freezer #2...

Knight GOLEM No. 12 stared sullenly out of his viewscreen. Now that he was conscious again, he was feeling the very same thing he had been shut down for before. Human feelings. Right now, he was bored. As he looked around the freezer, he wondered what it was like to be another type of GOLEM, one that could see through it's own eyes. 

Sure, it was nice being able to see anything that differed in temperature in any sort of light, but he wondered what color the greenish-yellow figures that were his half-frozen comrades really were. He saw a large red blob moving through the freezer and blinked, which was conveyed by the red light on his mask flickering off and then on again. He reached up and polished the lens on his thermographic camera, then refocused it. The warm red form was moving in his direction. The other GOLEMs turned and watched it, but without orders they did not leave their position. The blob, which was now human-shaped, knelt in front of him and peered into his lens. He switched to the green-on-black world of his night vision mode, so he could see the figure's features. A large GOLEM with a shattered faceplate stared into his lens critically.

"So yer the Knight with the personality." He said. No. 12 tried to nod, a cumbersome movement at best with his heavy breathing equipment on. 

"Good. I got plans fer you."

No. 12 shook his head. He knew what the scientists had planned for him. He was to be shut down and reprogrammed. No. 12 didn't want to be shut down. Not after he had escaped the fate of the other GOLEMs that had malfunctioned. The ones that had fallen as soon as the machines released them were basically dead, and the ones that stood aimlessly were only slightly better off. Their connections to the leader units, either the computers or the King GOLEM, had been damaged or just never worked. So they stood, without orders, having to be moved about by the scientists or just left in stasis and forgotten. No. 12, for some reason or another, had suffered the same malfunction, but instead of losing all ability to think independently, his more human portions of his brain overrode the cybernetic sections, and he began to feel emotions. "Wuhaha! I like you, kid. You got a lot of guts to say 'no' to King GOLEM No. 9." He thumped the sitting Knight on his back, making him lurch forward.

No.12 refocused his lens. "...You're not going to reprogram me?"

No. 9 thumped him on the back again. "Heck, no! I'm gonna need yer mind to help me get the Queen back. What d'ya say?"

Struggling stiffly to his feet, No. 12 nodded in agreement.

*****

...Computer lab, eight hours later ...

Aya pushed the heavy door leading to the sleeping quarters slightly open. The light from inside was dim and flickering, and there was a rapid clicking noise coming the corner. Rupert pushed the door open the rest of the way with the barrel of his gun and locked his sights on...

...A young man with messy hair and crooked glasses, who was looking very surprised. He gave a sort of nervous giggle and held his hands up in surrender. Aya forced Rupert's gun back into his holster as she looked the man over. He was in his mid-twenties, and had been in very good shape until recently. He looked as if he hadn't eaten or slept in about a week. In front of him, the green light emanating from the screen of the network terminal, the only light in the room, made him look even more sickly. Aya approached him slowly, making a show of putting away her gun so he wouldn't feel threatened. He stared at her, looking terrified, and stood up with his hands in the air. He giggled nervously again. It was starting to creep Aya out.

"Authorized?" He croaked, as if he hadn't spoken in quite a long time.

"I'm Agent Aya Brea, FBI. This is Agent Rupert Broderick. And you are?"

"Authorized?" He asked again, cocking his head with an almost birdlike movement. _There's something about his eyes..._ Aya thought. _Something familiar...If only I had better light!_

"Yes, we're authorized." Rupert said. "What part of FBI don't you understand?" He found the main light switch.

The next few things that happened were so fast that Aya had to replay them in her mind. Rupert flicked on the lights, the young man screamed in surprise and leapt at Aya as his body changed into something that looked somewhat like a Stranger and laughed exactly like a Mad Chaser. And Aya realized where she had seen the strange eyes that she could now see clearly in the bright light. ANMC eyes, red and glowing. The creature leapt over her and disappeared out the open door.

"What was that?" Aya asked, getting up and dusting herself off.

*****

...Main hall, B3...

His name was Kazrov Yoshida, and he was a programmer in the Shelter. He was no longer entirely human, as they had given him Stranger and Chaser genes, trying to create an ANMC that was both strong and could blend in. 

However, the strange mixture of genes he had was not a total blessing. Anytime he was nervous or angry, he would giggle uncontrollably. And he was a very nervous person, with good reason.

"YOSHIDA!!"

Yoshida slid to a stop on the smooth floor and fell over. "Hheehheehheehhee!! Here, Sir!"

A huge GOLEM picked the programmer up by the collar of this lab coat. "What's got you running aroun' like an idiot?"

Yoshida gibbered unintelligibly in between giggle fits.

No. 9 rolled his eyes. "Ah, quit yer whinin' and change back."

The young man did so, taking deep breaths until his heart rate slowed. His form quickly reverted to human and No. 9 placed him back on the ground. 

Yoshida knelt in front of him for a moment, recovering, then stood shakily. "Sir, there's two federal agents in the building! They attacked me!"

"Where?"

"In--in the computer lab...!"

"Fine. We still got enough time to start." Yoshida looked about ready to cry.

"But-m-my lab..." He whined as he scurried behind the huge GOLEM."Relax." He snarled, entering a code into a heavily reinforced door's security panel. The door slid aside, then returned to it's place after the two men stepped through.

Inside, the figure of a fully-grown man floated in an incubation chamber. Yoshida stared for a moment, checked the system perimeters, and turned to the GOLEM. "There's no way the clone could have developed that fast!"

No. 9 resisted telling Yoshida he had changed a few things. The young man would have had a heart attack long before his time. "It's not important. What is important is the process is finished. Get him out."

"And where are you going?" Yoshida asked desperately.

"We're still gonna need more than him to help us."

*****

...Later...

No. 12 leaned up against a bulkhead as No. 9 entered with the computer engineer, Yoshida.

"Everythin' go accordin' to plan, kid?" No. 9 asked the slightly shorter Knight GOLEM.

No. 12 nodded. "Our 'friend' just finished cooking. He's down the hall, reading up on recent history."

"Great. Yoshi?"

Yoshida made a startled noise. He was examining one of the computers, and had gotten absorbed by it's readout. "Yes?"

"Come wit' me."

"Oh... okay..." Yoshida followed the hulking GOLEM down the corridor.

As they reached the end of the hallway, Yoshida pulled No. 9 aside. "That's him?" He whispered.

No. 9 nodded. "Why?"

"I just expected him to be... taller. And, um... more ANMC...ish." Yoshida floundered.

No. 9 grinned. "Just you wait..."

*****

...Still later, at the computer lab...

"Damn! He must've gotten into the lower levels somehow." Aya entered the room after searching for the strange AMNC that had attacked her and Rupert. "No idea how, though. The elevator's sealed up tight."

"Not sure. Maybe there's another way down?" Rupert was re-loading his rifle. He had run into a small pack of rats while searching for the AMNC.

Rupert was still loading his rifle when the phone rang, so Aya answered it. Pierce greeted her, but not in his typical friendly fashion. "Aya! You guys need to get back here! NOW!!"

"Pierce?!? What's going on?" Aya demanded.

In the background on Pierce's end of the line, something broke. "Eve's gone nuts! She's floating in midair and telling everyone to get out of her way! ---Oh, damn... Jake, DUCK!! No, that way!! Go that way! She's headed for the gara--" The rest was static, and then the line went dead.

Aya glanced over at Rupert. "Monster Boy can wait. I'll explain on the way to the car."

*****

...MIST headquarters...

When they got back to the base in LA a few hours later, it was almost peaceful. Until, of course, Aya opened the door.

There were scorch marks on the wall, Rupert's desk had been overturned, the doors to the garage were simply nonexistent and Pierce's SUV was missing.

"What happened?" Rupert asked as Aya and Pierce helped him right his desk.

"She shook the keys out of Pierce and got outta town." Jake replied. Jakob Brant was the newest NMC hunter, and was a kind of field replacement for Rupert, who had been promoted. Jake was a bit of a mystery in himself, and had an attitude that could only be described as "psychotic". 

Aya shouldered her gun. "Then I'm going after her."

"Great." Jake announced, sauntering up beside her. "We'll take my car."

Aya frowned and took a step away from the new hunter. "Did I say you could come?"

"Did I ask?"

*****

...Shelter...

"Alright, you two." No. 9 announced, pacing in front of Yoshida and No. 12. "The Reset Phase is complete. Now, I need you to find the Queen and git her back here. Unharmed." He added, poking Yoshida in the nose. "You're gonna do the driving, since you look human. 12, stay cloaked and provide backup if he needs it. He's staying here, but he'll guide the Queen."

No. 12 nodded solemnly and Yoshida sighed in defeat. "All right, let's go. And don't sneak up on me." He hissed, glaring at the Knight sourly.

Once they left, No. 9 headed off to the main computer and began running a highly-guarded program that only he and a few deceased scientists could access. It had been a good plan to send Yoshida to get the Queen, as the programmer would have had a heart attack if he had seen someone messing with his precious mainframe.

*****

...on an empty desert road...

Kazrov Yoshida pushed the gas pedal of the shelter's "company car", a simple white van, a little closer to the floor. He was lost in his own little world of thought, preoccupied with wanting to get back to the shelter as soon as possible and being creeped out by the sound of the invisible GOLEM in the back seat's breathing.

Therefore, he was very surprised to see red and blue lights flashing in his side view mirror. He knew the highway patrolman's car would outperform the heavy van any day, so he pulled over and thumped his head against the steering wheel a few times.

The officer approached as Yoshida rolled down the window. "May I see some ID?" He asked.

"Uh...heheh...yeah." Yoshida laughed nervously and handed his card key to the man. How do I get out of this...?

The officer pushed the key card back at him. "I mean your driver's license."

_Crap... _"License? Oh! Oh, yeah, that's in the... uh, glove-box-thingy... hang on." He leaned over to the passenger side and started rummaging in the glove compartment hopelessly. "Oh, here it is!" He lied, flipping over his key and deciding the metal strip made it look enough like a driver's license to fool the patrolman for a short time. "Uh, my sleeve's caught on the lock. Could you just...?" He waved the "license" over his shoulder as if he couldn't reach. Under his breath, he hissed "Do something, 12!" 

"Certainly, sir." The officer answered, leaning further into the van.

Yoshida shifted, luring the officer a little further in. "Just a liii-tle closer..."

As the hapless officer bent still further into the van, No. 12 suddenly reappeared and grabbed the man around the neck with one hand and stabbed him with a hypodermic needle protruding from the GOLEM's left fist. The cyborg then tossed the officer from the van and disappeared again.

Yoshida sent up a cloud of sand as he took off. After a few minutes on the road, he stared blankly ahead and said, "There's always video cameras in police cars. We're in deep shit now."

"The camera wasn't on. And the computer database was erased." No. 12 replied from the back with a tone of confident cool.

Yoshida blinked and tried to recover from the fact that the normally silent GOLEM was speaking to him. "Oh, yeah? How would you know, cyber-boy?"

"I took care of it while you were flailing around up there." 

There was uncomfortable silence the rest of the way to LA.

*****

...15 miles east of LA....

Pierce's SUV hurtled along the shoulder of the freeway, oblivious to opposing traffic. Aya and Jake had almost caught up to it in Jake's black '65 Mustang when it suddenly turned at almost a right angle to the road and headed out into the empty desert. Jake didn't even glance at Aya for a second opinion as he jerked the steering wheel sharply to follow Eve.

Not too far away, Yoshida glanced up from his furious concentration on the road to see two vehicles speeding toward him. He heard No. 12's camera refocus behind him. "The one closest to us has Eve."

"Well, then, what are we waiting for?" Yoshida asked as the SUV slid to a halt in the sand a few yards away. He opened the door and stepped out onto the sand. "Come on, Eve!" He called. "Let's go home!"

The little girl jumped out of the car and ran a few steps toward him before being cut off by Jake's car. Aya vaulted from the passenger side and wrapped her arms around of Eve, restraining the little girl's powers with her own. 

"Oh, no you don't..." Yoshida growled. Before Aya could shout a warning to Jake, he charged, changing as he approached. When he reached Jake, he looked like an unholy union between a Chaser and a Stranger, only with bigger claws. The creature tackled Jake, who fired his gun and hit it, first grazing it's ribs and then pegging the shoulder. It threw back it's head and howled in pain, then backed off to reconsider it's strategy. Jake lined up another shot, this one to the head. Suddenly, he was lifted off his feet by an unseen attacker. He felt a stabbing sensation in the back of his neck and the desert blurred and swam in front of him. 

He was jolted and fell, in his mind, slowly, like a surreal dream to the sand below. Aya shouted his name and shook him, then forced something into his mouth and said, "Swallow that." He obeyed, and a few moments later his senses returned to normal.

"Whahappen?"

"That was a Knight GOLEM. They cloak, sneak up behind you and then inject you with poison. Luckily, I've had to deal with them before, so I had some antivenin on me." Aya explained.

"Where'd it go?" Jake started to get to his feet, but suffered a bout of nausia and stumbled.

"Whoa, be careful there." Aya leaned over and helped Jake to his feet. "Anyway, the GOLEM's right here." Aya motioned to the limp humanoid form that flickered in and out of view. "It's unconscious."

"How'd you manage that?"

"I hit it. Hard."

Jake nodded. "And Eve?"

"She's still here, but she won't listen to me. That ANMC goon took off in their van." Aya looked out at the horizon, shading her eyes. "It's out of sight now. Let's head back to base and see if we can get all this sorted out."

*****


	2. E. Pluribus Unum

**[Parasite Eve: Redux]**

**_Chapter II: E. Pluribus Unum_**

_"Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations,—entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies; the preservation of the general government in its whole constitutional vigour, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad;…freedom of religion; freedom of the press; freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected,—these principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation."_

_-Thomas Jefferson_

_*****_

…On the road to L.A…

"Damn!" Jake muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "What the hell did that GOLEM hit me with?" 

"A fast-acting neurotoxin - an analog of Botulism." Said Aya, driving for Jake. "It's pretty nasty stuff, but it's also easily cured. I would have purified your system myself, but I guess I was just tired…"

Jake looked alarmed for a second, then understanding set over his face. "Oh, that's right. You got those Neo-Mitochondria also, huh?"

Aya nodded yes.

"Fun stuff." Jake twisted around in his seat and looked at Eve. The little girl had been relatively catatonic since the run with the ANMC and the GOLEM. Jake returned to his previous position. "What's up with your little sis?"

Aya shrugged, then said worriedly, "I don't know. Her mind is… closed. It's like she's not even there anymore."

"Wonderful." Jake twisted his head around to look at the large figure crammed into the back seat of his car. "Anyway, we better get to MIST fast. I don't think that GOLEM's gonna be out for long."

*****

...MIST Headquarters...

Aya walked down the hallway at MIST, greatfull to be out of the car with Jake. Her happiness was dashed, however, when she heard an all-to familiar voice float down the corridor behind her.

"Yo! Agent Brea!" Jake ran up behind Aya, then slowed to match her pace. "That GOLEM we picked up when we went after Eve is all cleaned up and ready for interrogation."

"Debriefing, Jake. Debriefing." Aya said, turning to face the other Hunter. "Besides which, didn't Rupert give you all that paperwork?"

Jake shrugged. "Eh. I can do that later."

"Right. Just make sure you don't get to far behind."

"Don't worry. I'm to smart for that."

"Could've fooled me." Aya said under her breath. She stopped as they neared the debriefing room, "Looks like we're here." Aya paused, "Well?"

"What?"

"Aren't you going to go in the other room to monitor me?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Because it's protocol!" Aya barely resisted the urge to light Jake on fire.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll observe. But you're gonna let me in eventually, right?"

Aya threw up her hands, "Yes! Just get into the damn monitoring room!"

Jake walked into the darkened room, and sat down at the one-way mirror. Aya then entered the room with the GOLEM.

GOLEMs, in general, look and act largely the same. Same armor, same posture, same behavior. This GOLEM, however, was quite different. As it sat, Aya noticed it tapping it's foot and looking around. It looked... bored.

Aya sat down across the table from it. "Hello" she said, setting her notepad down in front of her, "My name is-"

"Name: Aya Brea. Age: 30. Hair: blond. Eyes: blue." The GOLEM looked at her for a moment, "I've had your profile uploaded into my database. I know your name."

"Well, um, that puts me at a disadvantage."

"I would think so."

"Might I ask what your name is?"

"My designation is Knight GOLEM No. 12." It looked at the mirror. "Why is the other officer coming in here?"

_Oh, dear God, no..._ Aya looked up at the door just as Jake walked in, holding a very large gun. "Jake, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Helping." Jake pointed the firearm at No. 12. "Alright, Terminator wannabe, answer my questions and I might not blow your brains out. First, what the hell did you do to Eve? Second, where in the hell were you gonna take her? And third, what the hell were you gonna do with her when you got there?"

"Jake, please..." Aya said, but neither Jake, nor the GOLEM were listening to her.

"And just why should I tell you?" The GOLEM leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. "I don't have to answer anything."

"Well." Jake said, sitting down on the corner of the table, "If you didn't answer, then we'd have to start sawing your arms off, and that would just be a huge mess... and I really wouldn't want to have to deal with all the paper work."

"Jake!" Aya stood up, barely restraining herself from punching the other Hunter in the face. "Let me deal with this!"

"Fine. Have it your way." Jake pulled one of the chairs from the table and sat down against the wall. "I'll just watch."

"So childish..." Relieved, Aya returned her attention to the GOLEM, who had been watching the situation pan out with mounting interest. "Anyway, could you just answer the questions that my collogue so eloquently asked you?"

"You two don't really like each other, do you? Fascinating..."

Jake stood up pulling his gun out of it's holster. "That's it." He pointed the gun at No. 12's head. "This is pointless. I'm gonna shoot it now."

"W-wait a minute!" The GOLEM was definitely fearful. A first for Aya. "You can't kill me! I have information you need!"

Aya shrugged. "Now, you see, that sort of argument would work on a rational person." She looked at Jake. "Unfortunately, there lies the problem..."

Jake just grinned.

No. 12 looked back and forth between the two MIST Agents nervously. "All right. I'll tell you what you want to know..."

"Excellent." Aya looked over at her partner. "Jake, you can put the gun down now."

*****

…Three hours later, Rupert's office…

"This is all your fault!" Aya shouted at Jake.

"What?! How could this possibly be my fault?!"

"If you hadn't hit the GOLEM so damn hard-"

"So what, it's my fault the cyborg couldn't take a hit?"

"Agents!" Rupert slammed his fist on the table. "What the hell are you two talking about!?"

Aya was the first to recover. "Sir, during the debriefing of the suspect today," Aya glared at Jake. "Agent Brant Disobeyed direct orders, putting the suspect at great risk of physical injury!"

"How so?"

"After the GOLEM told us everything it knew, Jake was convinced it was holding out on us. So he hit the damn thing with a steel pipe! He knocked it unconscious!"

Jake scoffed. "Sure. Like you've never killed one of those things before."

"Not when they had vital information!"

Rupert hit his desk again. Aya was sure she saw cracks form. "Quiet!" Rupert recovered. "Now, Brant. Your turn."

"What's to explain? I used what methods I thought were necessary to extract the information we needed."

"And how, exactly, does hitting the informant with a steel pipe qualify?"

Jake shrugged.

Aya sighed.

Rupert looked annoyed. "So, what information did you manage to get out of the GOLEM before Agent Brant got… creative with the interrogation techniques?"

Jake spoke up before Aya could. "It told us that some super-human was getting cloned at the Shelter. It also said something about someone named Bowmen, or something…"

"Bowman. He was one of the researchers at the Shelter before the whole place went straight to the ninth circle of hell."

Rupert thought a moment. "Agent Brant, you may leave now."

"Wha-"

"Leave!"

Jake threw up his hands. "Fine!" he left the office.

Aya turned back to Agent Broderick. "Rupert, please. You have to reassign Brant. I can't do my job with him around."

Rupert sat down. "I… can't do that."

"Why not?"

Rupert took a deep breath. "I'm not authorized to tell you." He leaned in close. "There are forces at work here, Aya. Forces beyond you or me."

"What… what are you talking about?"

"I've already told you too much." Rupert leaned back again. "Although I can't say anymore, certain documents such as Brant's personnel file might be illuminating…"

Aya smiled. "Thank you." She left.

Rupert sucked on a cigar thoughtfully after she left. "Godspeed Aya, Godspeed."

*****

…Several hours later, filling room…

Aya had been looking through the personnel files for nearly three hours, and she was starting to get a bit tired. She had become firmly convinced that whoever created the FBI's filling system needs to be shot.

After going through the same set of files for the hundredth time, she finally found what she was looking for – a brown manilla folder that contained every bit of information about Special Agent Jakob Brant.

She started looking though it, and found what Rupert had undoubtibly intended her to read. It was a envelope labeled: "TOP SECRET - SECURITY LEVEL 3A AND ABOVE ONLY". Even stranger, however, was that said seal was broken, apparently by a knife of some kind.

Aya slowly opened the envelope, careful to not disturb the sticker any further, or contaminate it with fingerprints. She started to read the contents:

Army Ranger Unit 3 Personnel:

Carl Smith: Lieutenant

Sommers, Jonathan: Captain

Mathews, Brian

Masters, Leah

Brant, Jakob

White, Joseph

Hunter, Aaron

Will, Dereck

Vaughn, Steven

Durst, Martin

Locke, Andrew

15 May

15:30 (Local time) - Unit 3 is assigned to investigate fabricated reports of an Iraqi weapons dump. Before they drop, they are indoctrinated with the modified mitochondria we received from the Japanese.

17:00 - Unit 3 arrives at drop-zone, establishes base camp, and readies for over-land hike. They believe reports of heavy anti-aircraft weaponry around the weapons dump, fully ready to spend the next five days hiking through rough Iraqi terrain.

16 May

7:00 - Unit 3 sets out on path to the supposed weapons dump. Vaughn and Durst stay behind to monitor the comm equipment.

13:30 - Radio communications report a "strange wasting illness" taking it's toll on the Unit. Will, Mathews, and Hunter all apparently committed suicide (self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head) after ranting for several hours about "Her".

17:30 - Masters and Smith inexplicably die while attempting to return to the drop-zone. Reports indicate that they just "fell over and died".

18:15 - Unit 3 loses contact with base camp. Durst committed suicide, apparently through self-immolation. The rest of the camp, including Vaughn, is consumed in the fire.

20:00 - Unit 3 sets up camp. Moralle is dropping rapidly. The Neo-Mitochondria are showing signs of taking permenent hold in Sommers.

17 May

1:00 - Sommers completes the transformation. The Neo-Mitochondria have fused themselves to his cells, and have nearly completely taken over all cell function.

2:00 - Sommers attacks and kills Locke, and is only stopped when Brant, the only member of Unit 3 left unaffected by the Neo-Mitochondria, shoots and kills his superior officer.

19 May

16:00 - Brant is located in a burned-out bunker nearly three miles from Unit 3's last known coordinates.

"It took them two days to find me." Aya nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the voice speak behind her. She turned to find Jake leaning in the doorway. "When they did, the military tribunal attributed my testimony to the events to 'Post Traumatic Stress Disorder'. The only thing that kept me from going to the loonie bin was my psyc-test."

Aya stared at Jake for a minute. "You went through all that?"

Jake looked bitter for a moment. "That paper doesn't tell the half of it. Those five days were hell." He slid to the ground. "Seeing my fellow soldiers, my brothers, die in front of me… that's not something I'd wish on anybody."

"My god, I didn't know…"

Jake stood up. "No, it's okay." He walked to the desk where his file was splayed out. "This happened a long time ago." He picked up the military file. "That's why I joined up, you know? Why I joined MIST."

"What?"

Jake put the file down. "When I heard you guys fight those things… the sort of thing that Johnny turned into, I figured it would be my chance to get back at 'em. You know? Avenge everybody's deaths."

Aya walked up to Jake, and put her hand on his arm. "I know how you feel. After NYC…" She looked at the report. "Wait a minute… This report comes from the Gulf War."

"Yeah, that's when I served. Why?"

Aya looked at Jake. "The first NMCs didn't exist until 1997, when Melissa Pearce became Eve."

"You're serious."

"Yeah."

"Aww, crap. I think we're in deep shit now, Aya."

"What?"

"Think about it. If there were NMCs and experiments with Neo-mitochondria before Eve started wreaking havok, that means…"

"That means that there's some sort of conspiracy going on here."

"I know. Exiting, isn't it?"

"That's not the word I would use. Mind-numbingly scary is closer to what I was thinking."

"Same diff. So, where to now? I mean, were gonna follow this up, right?"

Aya smirked. "Of course. And I think I know just the man who can tell us more…"

*****


	3. The Shadow of Death

****

**[Parasite Eve: Redux]**

**_Chapter III: The Shadow of Death_**

****

_The Lord is my shepherd_

_There is nothing I lack._

_In green pastures you let me graze;_

_to safe waters you lead me;_

_you restore my strength._

_You guide me along the right path_

_for the sake of your name._

_Even as I walk through the valley_

_of the shadow of death;_

_I fear no evil for you are with me;_

_your rod and staff give me courage._

_-Psalms 23_

*****

…Detention area, MIST…

No.12 leaned up against the wall of his cell. After the interrogation session, the GOLEM could use all the rest he could get. His head still stung.

The guard outside continually paced, so much so that No.12 was sure the ground under him was several inches lower than when he started. The man was obviously uncomfortable guarding a creature that could pop his head like a pimple before he could even sound an alarm.

The GOLEM smiled under his mask. Only a few more minutes…

*****

…Parking Garage, MIST…

"So you're sure this Baldwin guy can tell us what we need to know?" Jake opened the door to his car, and sat down in the driver's seat.

Aya sat shotgun. "I'm sure. He was at the center of the whole operation. If anybody knows, it'll be Baldwin."

"Sweet. Lets get go–What the hell!?" The internal alarms suddenly sounded, startling Jake and Aya.

"Sounds like we got visitors…" Aya got out of the car and pulled her gun out of it's holster. "Let's greet them, shall we?"

Jake grinned. "Now you're speakin' my language…" He pulled out a pair of Colt .45's. "Let's go kick some ass."

*****

…Main Offices, MIST…

Jake and Aya ran into the main hall of MIST, expecting to see perhaps a few NMC's escaped from the containment area, or maybe a postal MIST employee. What they found was a bit more than they expected.

A group of not quite two dozen Pawn and Rook GOLEMs had invaded MIST, and were giving the other Hunters quite a fight. The battle was raging through a cubicle-infested area, forcing the GOLEMs to clear an area in the room by randomly knocking down the cube walls with grenades and plasma-blades.

Aya took cover behind a pillar, shooting at the GOLEMs from behind a secure position. She dropped a Rook with a well-aimed shot to the head, right in between the plate of armor on it's face and it's helmet. The cyborg fell, discharging a volley of grenades at the ceiling.

Jake took a less well-disciplined approach. He dove over an overturned desk, blazing away with his handguns. The hail of .45 caliber bullets impacted one of the Pawns in the chest, flaying the cyborg's armor and causing sparks and blood to rain on the other GOLEMs.

Aya ran from behind her pillar, firing with her pistol and occasionally blasting a GOLEM with a Neo-Mitochondrial fireball. She reached Pierce and Jodie, who were hiding behind another concrete cylinder. "How are you guys doing?"

"Not so great." Pierce peaked out from behind the makeshift barricade. "The GOLEMs have taken over most of the lower levels… This is just a small group."

Jodie piped up. "Yeah. There's at least fifty of the nasties in the building." She smacked the pillar with her hand. "If only we could get to the Weapons Control Room…"

Meanwhile, Jake had been having far too much fun fighting the GOLEMs. He kicked a file full of papers in the face of a Rook, causing the artificial soldier to reflexively fire a cluster of grenades, which missed Jake and hit a nearby Pawn.

The Rook charged at Jake with it's shield lowered, making an effective battering ram. Jake tried firing a few rounds at the Rook, but the bullets merely bounced off the shield. He led the GOLEM over a cubicle wall, and into a real one. The cyborg slammed into the concrete surface, knocking it silly. As the artificial soldier struggled to it's feet, it looked down and noticed a greenish-gray round object at it's feet. The hand-grenade then exploded, sending the GOLEM rocketing through the air.

The Hunter then turned to see another Rook that happened to be sighting down Aya. He took a few pod-shots at the cyborg in an effort to draw it's attention away from her, and succeeded. The GOLEM swept it's laser-sight across to Jake.

Jake rolled across a nearby desk, which was promptly destroyed by the enraged GOLEM. He hit the ground, and dove off to the left, drawing the Rook's line of fire across a group of lesser GOLEMs. The Rook did not care, apparently, and let loose a burst of grenades at the other cyborgs, which succeeded in little else than causing the grenade-armed Pawns to return fire. Needless to say, the Rook was reduced to a pile of flaming rubble in relatively short order.

The Hunter dove behind his own desk, pulling out his trusty M-16A2 assault rifle that he had had the foresight to hide in his filing cabinet. He popped out from behind his cover, and unleashed a hail of 5.56mm rounds at the closest GOLEM, a Pawn, which promptly disintegrated.

Aya witnessed this from behind the pillar which also housed Pierce and Jodie. "Aw, crap. I gotta go make sure Jake doesn't get himself killed, okay?"

Jodie shrugged. "Sure. That boy sure needs someone to keep him out of trouble. Sort of like my Pierce here…" She snuggled up against the young man.

Pierce wrapped his arms around Jodie. "We're gonna be stuck here for a while, Aya. Go on, git!"

Aya darted around the pillar, firing at the distracted GOLEMs. She dropped two Pawns and a Rook before they realized what was happening, and started opening fire at her instead of Jake.

Jake seized the opportunity, pulling a machete out of one of the drawers on his desk. He came up behind a Pawn, and slammed the blade down on the shoulder of the cyborg so hard it traveled down through the GOLEM's chest until the knife lodged in it's ribs. He yanked the blade out, and rammed the machete through the back of the next Rook's neck. The blade only stopped when it hit the GOLEM's face-plate.

Aya continued to fire into the crowd of GOLEMs until she finally realized that they were all dead. She and Jake reconvened in the center of the pile of bodies.

Jake pried the helmet off of a Rook. "Hmm. I think I'll put it on my wall."

Aya glanced at the elevator. "That was just the advance guard. There's still at least 30-35 more in the lower levels."

"Excellent! Wanna go kill some more?" Jake's voice had the kind of not-quite-healthy enthusiasm that Aya had learned he acquired whenever he got into battle.

Aya shook her head. "I'll do it. You have to attend to the wounded–those GOLEMs injured a lot of people before we got here."

Jake nodded. "Okay. I'll let you have all the fun, I guess."

As Aya made her way to the elevator, she muttered to herself, "I swear. That guy's gonna get himself killed one of these days…"

*****

…Storage Level, MIST…

Aya exited the elevator with her gun ready, sweeping the area with her muzzle. She expected to see the place crawling with GOLEMs, but instead the entire floor seemed to be empty.

Spent casings from the Rook's fragmentation grenades littered the floor, as did the corpses of several cyborgs. Aya couldn't even hear the soft footsteps of any Bishop or Knight GOLEMs. The area was just… deserted.

She jumped when the emergency phone in the elevator went off. She picked it up. "Hello?"

"Aya! It's Pierce."

"What's up?"

"I just managed to get to the security desk… It looks like the GOLEMs cleared out."

"Good."

"No, not good. They killed the officers guarding No.12 and Eve, and left with 'em. Eve and the GOLEM, that is."

"THEY TOOK EVE!?" Aya shouted into the phone.

"Whoa, Aya. Calm down. They couldn't have gotten far." He paused for a moment. "Wait a minute… Jake has something…"

Jake's voice came on to the phone. "Aya, I think I know where they're headed. If we can get there before them…"

"Way ahead of you. We'll drive my car this time."

"Okay…"

*****

…On the road to the Shelter…

Yoshida looked behind him at the masses of GOLEMs hanging on racks. They were riding in a big-rig truck that had been modified to act as a troop-transport for the GOLEMs. It was called an RDV, or Rapid Deployment Vehicle, and was supposed to allow for, as the name indicates, rapid deployment of the cyber-soldiers outside of the shelter. However, after Yoshida and the GOLEMs had busted No.12 and Eve out of MIST, the Knight replaced Yoshida as the driver of the vehicle.

This meant little to Yoshida, however, as he was currently suffering from a bout of motion sickness due to No.12's driving.

He climbed up to the cabin, and leaned up next to No.12 and Eve. "Um, could you, not swerve so much? It's making me–oh God!" Yoshida wretched in a paper bag.

No.12 turned to look at Yoshida, then returned to gazing out at the road. "I am sorry. The Rooks are moving around in the back. I have to swerve to stop the RDV from tipping over, but I will endeavor to maintain a straighter course."

Yoshida nodded, trying to not barf a second time. "Good. Why can't I drive, again?"

"Dr. Bowman is concerned with speed. You always go too slow."

The computer tech stared at the GOLEM in disbelief. "What?! You saw what happened the last time I drove over the speed limit! I got pulled over!"

"And I dealt with it."

"By killing the CHP officer! You can't just–BLUAGH!!!" Yoshida threw up again.

"Humans are so strange…" No.12 ignored Yoshida's continued protestations and kept on driving.

*****

…A few miles behind… 

Jake looked over at the speedometer. "Um, Aya… You're gonna be going twice the legal limit in a few seconds…

"So?"

"Well, you're usually the one telling me to slow down."

"You're absolutely right." She stepped on the gas, exceeding the speed limit by almost a hundred miles per hour.

*****

…Half an hour later, Mine Entrance…

Aya and Jake peeked over a small ridge of rock to a rather disheartening scene. There was what appeared to be a big-rig truck flanked by nearly a hundred GOLEMs of all types blocking the way into the shelter.

They slid down behind the boulders. "Well, what do we do now?" Jake wiped his brow with a bandana. "We're not getting in that way."

Aya was obviously getting quite angry. Jake had never seen this side of her. "Well, there's still the parking garage… maybe that's not so heavily guarded."

Jake grabbed her arm. "Aya, you know as well a I do that there not going to let us into the shelter with out a fight." He looked over the ridge again. "Hell, they're probably not gonna let us in at all. The only thing I can see to do is talk to that Baldwin guy. He'll most likely know what's going on, and how to stop it." Jake released her.

"You're right. I just…" Aya trailed off.

"I know. You don't want to leave Eve behind." Jake put his hand on her shoulder. "I doubt that they're gonna hurt her. I looks like they need her for whatever their plan is. Otherwise they wouldn't have gone to all this trouble to get her."

Aya nodded. "Okay. Lets go pay Baldwin a visit."

*****

…In the Shelter…

No. 12 half-walked, half-dragged Yoshida into the meeting room. Yoshida pushed him away and staggered off to curl up in a corner to try to regain his sense of balance.

No. 9 was waiting for them. "Well?" he asked. "Where's th' Queen?"

A Pawn stepped forward and held the struggling girl up by her collar. No. 9 snatched her away and cradled her in one arm while he backhanded the Pawn with the other. "Treat th' Queen with respect, you moron!" He snarled. The Pawn muttered an apology and backed away, head down.

"Put me down!" Eve demanded, pounding on No. 9's chest armor. 

He laughed. "Now, now, Miss Queen. Just relax…" He cooed as Eve continued to fight.

Bowman entered the room, and Eve was suddenly still, as if in a trance. "Good. Yoshida, No. 12, you may leave. Now."

Yoshida wrinkled his nose. He stood and left the room, throwing suspicious glances at Bowman while the Knight Golem followed.

*****

…Two hours later, Shelter…

"Two hours…" Yoshida muttered, pacing up and down the hallway. "How long are they going to make us wait?"

No. 12, who was sitting on a countertop that he had found strong enough to support his weight, watched the programmer complete another lap. "There are many things to work out, now that we have our Queen again." He stated.

Yoshida grunted. "Happy to have her back, huh?"

The large Golem mused over this. "We are discouraged from becoming overexcited about these things. But I suppose… yes."

"That's nice." Yoshida grumbled sarcastically. He leaned his head against the door Bowman and No. 9 were conversing behind. Suddenly, his eyes grew large.

_"—insolence!! You'll ruin everything!"_

_ "Do I look like I care, old man? "_

_ "I created your race, and I can destroy it twice as easily! Now listen to reason…"_

_ "Yer reasons don't mean anythin' to me. The tables've turned, Doctor. **I **__made _**_you_**_." _

_ "You can't just run out there, guns blazing and destroy everything!"_

_ "The only thing I want to destroy is the little girl. Then we take our rightful place."_

_ "No! That was never the plan! I wanted to restore the evolutionary balance, not overthrow it!"_

_ "Then why'd you create us, Bowman? Heheh, I found yer blueprints and notes years before we found yer DNA code. I know all about what you had in store for us Golems. You get what you want, then throw us in the trash an' dispose of any trace of us."_

_ "Th—that's not true…"_

_ "Oh, really? Even th' Queen knows. You'd kill her, too wouldn't you, Doctor?"_

_ "This is preposterous!"_

_ "Now lissen here, clone. Yer gonna follow my plan now, or I'll tell the others what you had planned for 'em. And they won't play nice…"_

_ "………All right. We'll follow your plan. But killing the girl will be a mistake, No. 9. We could use her to our advantage…"_

There was a loud thud of the King Golem's hand hitting something solid.

_ "That little mutant is th' first to go! No exceptions!!"_

Yoshida backed away from the door, afraid that the King would throw something through it, possibly the man he was yelling at. He turned to the Knight Golem. "Things are gonna get complicated, No. 12." He sighed.

No. 12 nodded. "I had suspected that from the start."

*****

…Three hours later, Los Angles…

Jake raced the car along the highway, narrowly avoiding several other motorists. "So, Aya…"

"Yes?" Aya had learned to put up with Jake's… unique driving style.

"I remember hearing something 'bout some guy named Madigan… what ever happened to him?"

Aya took a deep breath. "You're familiar with the Dryfield incident, right?"

"Yeah, sort of. I've read about it, but most of the details are classified."

"That doesn't matter." Aya stared out of her window. "There was another person on the case besides me."

"That would be this Madigan guy, right?"

Aya nodded. "Right. Kyle Madigan was a government spy inside the organization that ran the shelter… he told me he was a private investigator, though. He was the one that tipped me off to the existence of the Shelter in the first place."

"Huh. So what ever happened to him?"

"He disappeared after the bombing of the Shelter."

"And you never saw him afterward?"

"Well… no." Aya sighed. "I haven't told anyone this… but I saw Kyle again about six months ago."

Jake jerked his head toward Aya. "You what?!"

"We met again at the Natural History Museum in New York." She laughed. "It was like a dream. I thought we could finally be together…"

"So you two were involved, I take it?"

"Yes. We were lovers for about three weeks… but he disappeared again. I haven't heard anything about him for months."

"Wow. That really bites." Jake peered out of the windshield. "Looks like we're here." He got out of the car, the leaned back in. "Hey, I know what'll cheer ya up. Wanna see me kick Baldwin's ass?"

*****

…Los Angeles Minimum Security Prison…

The guard opened the door for Aya and Jake. "He's all yours. I gotta warn you, though. Baldwin isn't usually very cooperative."

Aya placated the guard. "Don't worry. We've got… incentive."

Jake grinned.

The guard laughed nervously and closed the door behind them.

Aya sat down at the table in the middle of the room. Baldwin was sitting on the other side, his arms and legs firmly bound with manacles. "Hello, Eric."

"Agent Brea! You never visited me before." Baldwin smiled sarcastically. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Jake paced around the room, working himself into his usual violent fury.

Baldwin raised an eyebrow. "Who's your friend?"

Aya glance at Jake. "He's agent Jakob Brant. He works at MIST now."

Baldwin looked suprised. "Oh, so this is Agent Brant?" He smirked. "Not what I expected, really. I would have thought he'd be throttling me by now…"

Jake spun and looked at Baldwin. "Just give me time." He cocked an eyebrow. "Just a question, but are you to terribly attached to your head? 'Cuz I can remove it for you…"

Baldwin looked pleased. "Just as I thought…" He craned his head to look at Aya. "He's certainly violent. I trust he has been a help in the investigation? I mean besides nearly killing that GOLEM."

Aya glared at him. "How do you know about that?"

Baldwin smiled. "Well, now that would be telling."

Jake walked over to Aya and whispered into her ear. "Can you ask your questions, already? I wanna have an excuse to hit him."

Aya nodded and whispered back. "Sure." She sat up and squared her shoulders. "Now, Eric, we know you were involved in the Dryfield incident."

Baldwin scoffed. "Well, of course. I'm in jail for it, aren't I?"

"Good. Anyway, there have been certain… abnormalities involving Eve and the Shelter. Do you know anything about them?"

"Of course I know. Just because I'm in jail doesn't mean I don't know what's going on outside."

"Well… Are you going to tell us?"

Baldwin leaned back and folded his hands behind his head. "I don't feel like it."

Aya nodded. "Okay." She turned to her partner. "Jake?"

Jake cracked his knuckles. "Finally…"

*****

…Twenty minutes later…

"Are you going to talk now?" Aya stood over Baldwin.

He nodded. The former MIST supervisor had been worked over quite thoroughly by Jake. His face was covered in bruises and scrapes, and his left eye was swollen shut. 

Aya looked pleased. "Good." She turned again to Jake. "I'd say you've done enough."

Jake rubbed his hand where the brass knuckles had bit into his fingers. "Are you sure? I can keep going…"

Aya raised her hand. "No, you've done enough." She sat down at her seat. "So. Baldwin. What do you know?"

The man swallowed. "You two undoubtedly know about the testing during the Gulf War. Am I right?"

Aya nodded.

"Well, that's not the half of it. You see, the Japanese were doing experiments involving Neo-mitochondria as far back as the early eighties."

Aya's head snapped up. "The first Eve…"

"Precisely. You see, the Japanese were cooperating with the Soviet Union in an effort to create a super-soldier that could tip the balance of power." He laughed quietly. "Unfortunately, the USSR collapsed before they could complete the project. So, the Japanese government decided to sell their research to the Americans, in return for a few key nuclear secrets, of course." He grinned and looked a Jake. "That would be where your unit during Desert Storm comes into the picture."

Jake stood up. He picked Baldwin up by his collar and slammed the older man against the wall. Baldwin gasped for air as Jake pressed him against the bricks. "What do you know about them?!"

Baldwin strained against Jake. "If you'll let me down, I'll tell you!"

Jake dropped the inmate. "Alright. Talk."

Baldwin rubbed his neck. "Your unit was one of the first groups to be tested with Neo-Mitochondria. Obviously, the American scientists didn't fully understand the data they acquired from their Japanese counterparts, so the experiments were a complete failure. Those who escaped the fate of Unit 3 have be afflicted with a wasting illness for the last decade."

"Gulf War Syndrome." Aya offered.

Baldwin nodded. "Yes."

Jake backed up from Baldwin, and sat on the table. "If what you say is true, then why wasn't I affected? How come I'm not dead or have Gulf War Syndrome?"

Baldwin shrugged. "I honestly don't know. Yours is a lone exception to all the other cases we have documented."

Aya crossed her arms. "What about Melissa Pearce?"

"When Dr. Klamp preformed the 'kidney' transplant on Melissa and your sister, what he was actually implanting were cloned organs that the Military had cooked up for him. Not that he knew this, of course.

"The first true success involving Neo-Mitochondria was when Eve created the first NMCs in New York. You see, Uncle Sam didn't want Eve. She was too powerful, too difficult to control. The NMCs, however, had nearly the same potential for power, and were far easier to manipulate."

Aya looked thoughtful. "So they made MIST to collect information on the NMCs?"

"And Shangrila to use the information." Baldwin rubbed the back of his neck. "It was quite ingenious, really. Only a few people, myself and the head researcher at the Shelter, Dr. Fred Bowman, included, knew about the true goal of both organizations."

Jake leaned back in his chair. "So this Bowman guy was the head honcho at the Shelter?"

"Correct."

Jake looked at Aya. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

Aya nodded. "I think so. This Bowman's the super-human the GOLEM was talking about?"

"Yup."

Aya took a deep breath. "You know what, Jake?"

"What?"

She stood up. "You were right, back at MIST."

"Really? What did I say?"

"We're in deep shit."

*****


	4. Paradox

**[Parasite Eve: Redux]**

**_Chapter IV: Paradox_**

_Merchant and pirate were for a long period one and_

_ the same person. Even today mercantile morality is really _

_nothing but a refinement of piratical morality._

_-Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche_

*****

…Computer Lab, Shelter…

Yoshida took another sip of coffee and went back to scanning the computer screen. It was a readout of the Shelter's current operational capacity.

It was quite dismal, unfortunately. The GOLEM supplies were quite low. In the days before Agent Brea got trigger-happy, there would be nearly two thousand of the combat cyborgs on standby at all times. But since so many were killed by Aya and the rail-bombing (and the fact that the cloning tanks were completely destroyed in the orbital bombardments didn't help) less than three hundred functional GOLEMs remained.

Yoshida was interrupted from his musings by heavy thumps emanating from the elevator hallway. Figuring it was just a GOLEM or two making noise, the computer tech decided to give them a piece of his mind. He came down the short corridor to the hallway, and peeked out the door. What he saw surprised him, to say the least.

In the center of the room was the cloned Bowman, surrounded by several dozen GOLEMs. At the lead of the cyborgs was No.9, crossing his arms and smiling.

"I told ya I'd tell th' boys." No.9 laughed. "Let me tell ya, they ain't happy."

One of the GOLEMs, a Pawn, stepped forward, brandishing his plasma-blade. No.9 stopped him with a wave of his hand.

Bowman maintained a blank expression and spoke quietly. "You have no idea what you are doing, No.9."

The King GOLEM laughed again. "Of course I know what I'm doing! Wer gonna waste you, then go on with th' plan!"

Bowman smiled. "Very well. You may try."

No.9 pulled his sword out of its scabbard and banged it on the ground. "Let's get'm, boys!"

The events that followed happened so quickly that Yoshida had to sort them out in his head later. The GOLEMs charged forward, clearly intent on dismembering the scientist. Yoshida expected Bowman to at least attempt to flee, but he just stood his ground. Just before the GOLEMs reached the researcher, a blinding flash of light emanated from Bowman. When Yoshida could see again, all the GOLEMs were pressed to the walls by some unseen force. Bowman stood where he had before, looking rather pleased with himself.

Bowman gestured at No.9. The GOLEM detached from the wall, and floated towards the scientist. The GOLEM then suddenly fell to the ground on his knees, pushed down by what appeared to be the scientist's shear force of will. Bowman looked down at the cyborg. "Now, No.9, there are going to be some changes around here." He started pacing around the GOLEM. "From now on, you will do what I say, when I say it. We will do things according to my plan, and you will not interfere with it, especially if Agent Brea is involved. Any questions?"

The GOLEM looked up at him, straining under the pressure. "Jus' one. Why don' you kiss my ass?"

Bowman stopped. He sighed. "I was afraid you would be uncooperative." He walked around until he was in front of No.9. He grasped the GOLEM by the throat, and lifted him off the ground. Bowman spun, and tossed the cyborg at a nearby wall.

Yoshida could see reddish-brown veins snake their way through Bowman's exposed arm, and the programmer shifted his position so he could get closer. "Shimatta." He whispered to no one in particular, "How in the hell…"

No.9 slammed into the bulkhead, grunting under the impact. He tried to get to his feet, but Bowman, casually strolling over, reached him first. Bowman hook-punched the GOLEM in the head, knocking him onto his stomach. The scientist waited for No.9 to get onto his hands and knees, then kicked him in the chest, sending him flying down the corridor. The huge GOLEM hit the ground, then slid to a stop.

No.9 looked up at Bowman, blood trickling through his shattered faceplate. "A'right, a'right. You win. I'll go along w'your lil' plan."

Bowman smiled. "Excellent." He waved his hand, and all the surrounding GOLEMs fell to the ground. He turned back to No.9. "Now, if I were you, I would make myself useful. Go prep the remaining GOLEMs for transport."

By this point, Yoshida was rightly scared out of his wits. What at first had appeared to be a normal man was in fact some sort of superhuman. He ran back towards the computer room, hoping that Bowman hadn't noticed him.

*****

…Elevator Hall, Shelter…

No.9 glanced towards the hallway that leads to the computer room. "What was that?"

Bowman smiled. "The programmer was observing us. It is of no concern, however. He will not betray us."

The GOLEM struggled to his feet. "How do you know?"

Bowman smiled again.

*****

…Parking Garage, LA Minimum Security Prison…

Jake leaned against the hood of his car. "So, what do we do next?"

Aya shrugged. "We could try the Shelter again. Maybe we can find a way inside." She flapped her jacket to move air around. "Does it feel warm in here to you?"

Jake paused. "No, not really. Although I think I know how to get in the Shelter. Some of my old buddies in the military might be willing to lend us some hardware."

"Like what?"

The man grinned. "Oh, you know. Armored hummers, heavy machine guns, mortars. Nothing big."

Aya rolled her eyes. "You're insane. You know that, right?"

Jake scoffed. "Of course. I thought MIST accepted nothing less."

Aya started to reply, but the room suddenly started to swim. Jake's face blurred out, and she lost her footing. As she fell to the ground, time seemed to slow to a crawl. She heard Jake call out to her, but it seemed to be a mere echo. She blacked out.

*****

…Highway, LA…

Aya regained consciousness. She was laying in the passenger seat of a pickup truck, with Jake in the driver's seat. She managed to sit up straight despite her body's indignant protests. She looked over at Jake. "What happened?"

Jake didn't take his eyes off the road. He was doing 110 on a 65mph highway. "I dunno. You fainted, then everything around started exploding. My friggn' car got trashed! I had to commandeer this one."

Aya rubbed her temples. Her head felt like it was going to explode as well. "Wonderful. Now my mitochondria are trying to kill us. As if the GOLEMs and ANMCs weren't enough."

"No kidding. I'm just lucky I didn't get deep-fried."

Aya snapped her attention back to Jake. "Wait a minute… You were in range. Why didn't you get burned?"

Jake shrugged. "I have no idea. All I know is that stuff was blowing up all over the place, and I wasn't one of 'em."

She settled back into her seat. "If you weren't affected by the mitochondria, that means… Oh crap."

"What? "

" Nothing. Did you call ahead to MIST already?"

"Yup. Some dude named Maeda is gonna be there to check you out."

Aya breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. He'll sort all this out."

*****

…Medical Lab, MIST Headquarters…

Aya winced as Maeda stuck the needle in her arm and pressed the milky liquid into her vein. "Sorry," He pulled it out, wiping the area with an alcohol swab. "This should suppress your mitochondria for a short while."

Aya smiled at the Japanese scientist. "Thank you, Kunihiko."

Maeda blushed.

Jake was standing over Aya, his arms folded. "So, what happened? Why'd her powers freak out?"

Maeda started, then collected himself. "Well, it appears that some of her mitochondria responded to the resonance of another life-form with similar strength." He walked over to a computer screen. It showed several of Aya's mitochondria, all humming with energy. "They activated themselves, then tried and take over her cell nuclei. Fortunately, other mitochondria that were unaffected by the resonance repelled the invaders. The backlash of external energy that you saw was merely the outward sign of this… this…" He turned to Aya. He spoke in Japanese. "_How do you say 'struggle'_?"

"Struggle."

Maeda turned back to Jake. "Of this struggle."

Jake stroked his chin and looked at the screen. "Another life-form?"

Maeda nodded. "That is the most likely situation. This 'Bowman' that you talked about on the phone could definitely be the cause."

"Great. This keeps getting funner and funner." Jake sighed. "So, why wasn't I affected by Aya's super-hissy?"

Kunihiko shrugged. "I honestly don't know. There is a possibility…"

Jake raised an eyebrow. "Of what?"

"It may be possible that you are a Neo-mitochondria carrier. If you would lay down on the other bed, I could perform some tests to determine if this is the case."

The Hunter complied, stretching out his tall frame on the hospital bed. "So you think I could be like Aya, here?"

Maeda nodded, prepping another syringe.

Aya glanced over at him. "Guess I'm not the only one getting poked today, eh?"

Jake rolled his eyes as Maeda drew a sample of blood from his arm. The scientist took the vial of liquid to the microscope, squirting a sample onto the plate.

Jake craned his neck to watch the screen, and heard Maeda mutter something in Japanese. "What's up, doc?"

Maeda looked confused at the Loony-Toons reference, but didn't dwell on it. "Well, I don't see any signs of abnormal cell structure. If you were a carrier, there would be far greater reserves of fat and carbohydrates in your cells, in addition to oddities in ribosome count and amino acid content."

"So I'm normal?"

Aya rolled her eyes. "That's a stretch."

Jake shot her an annoyed expression. "I mean I don't have funky mitochondria."

Maeda nodded. "It would appear that way. Although, I would like to run more tests, if that's okay with you."

Jake shifted into a more comfortable position on the bed. "Test away. I'm in no hurry."

*****

…Computer Lab, Shelter…

Yoshida burst into the lab, panting heavily and cursing. No.12 looked up from a novel he had been reading to look at the computer tech. "What is the matter?"

Yoshida took a few moments to catch his breath, then cursed again. "Shimatta. It's all going to hell."

The GOLEM looked quizzically at the programmer. "What is?"

Yoshida sat down at his desk, taking a swig from a water bottle. "Bowman! I just saw him beat the crap out of No.9!" He took a few deep breaths. "Bowman threw him into a wall! Literally!"

No.12 stood up. "If the King is being harmed by Bowman, then I shall have to terminate the clone."

Yoshida gestured for the GOLEM to sit down. "No, don't even try. He's way too strong."

No.12 stood for a minute, then sat back down. "If I cannot defeat Bowman, then what am I to do?"

Yoshida sighed. "I don't know. I honestly don't know."

*****

…Medical Lab, MIST…

Maeda pulled his glasses off, and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He was no closer to figuring out why Jake was unaffected by the Aya's rampant powers than he was when he started.

Jake had wandered off to get a snack, and Aya had fallen asleep on the clinical bed. Kunihiko rubbed his eyes. They were tired from looking at the computer screen for so many hours on end. He popped his joints, then stood up and proceeded to go through a few simple stretches to get the blood flowing through his veins again. As he sat back down, his hand slipped, and knocked the vial of Aya's activated mitochondria onto the slide with Jake's blood. Cursing, he got up to clean the plate off when he noticed a reaction. Watching the computer screen, his eyes widened, and his jaw dropped.

He leapt from his chair, nearly knocking Jake over as he returned from his quest for food. The scientist helped Jake to his feet, talking excitedly in Japanese.

Jake held his hands up. "Whoa, Maeda… calm down. What's going on?"

Kunihiko took a deep breath, then started speaking again, this time in English. "I've found out why you were unaffected! Come, quickly!"

As his led Jake to the computer desk, Aya awoke. She yawned, and looked at Maeda, with Jake towering over the shorter scientist, jabbering something about mitochondria. Intrigued, Aya walked toward them, peering over Jake's shoulder. The taller Hunter noticed her, and moved to the side so she could see.

Maeda quickly repeated the events that led to his discovery, administering a sample of viral Neo-Mitochondria to slide with Jake's blood.

On the computer screen, she could see her own mitochondria try to infest Jake's cells. They were swarming the outside of a red blood cell, when a huge macrophage swept past, devouring the swarming microbes. Aya watched in fascination as all the Neo-Mitochondria were systematically targeted, scooped up, and destroyed by Jake's immune system.

Maeda turned to the two Hunters. "It's so simple, really. During Jake's encounter in Iraq with the primate Neo-Mitochondria, his body was able to establish an immune response that would protect him from infection. I would guess that the strain that the military was experimenting with was less virulent that the current form."

Aya looked vaguely alarmed. "How do you know about Iraq?"

"I told him about it." The three turned in unison to the door. There stood Rupert, framed by the lights in the hallway. "I felt Dr. Maeda could be trusted with this information."

Jake crossed his arms. "It would have helped is you had told us. Who else knows about this?"

Rupert stared at Jake. "May I remind you, Agent Brant, that I am the supervising agent in this operation. I do not need to reveal everything to you."

Aya looked up at Jake. The man's jaw was clenched, and his nostrils were flaring. He looked about ready to deck Rupert. "And may I remind you, 'Sir', that Agent Brea and myself are the ones that are going to have to rely on this information with our lives."

"Do you honestly think you are the only one that's in danger here? I'm putting my ass on the line by even telling you anything!"

Aya stepped in between the two men, keeping them from beating each other into a bloody pulp at least temporarily. "Stop it, both of you!" She glared at them both, alternating her gaze between the two of them. "The last thing we need right now is a testosterone contest!"

Jake glanced menacingly at Rupert before returning to the computer desk. "Fine. Do what you want. But if something goes bad, and I find out you're responsible…"

"That won't happen." Rupert turned to the door, but stopped. He looked at Jake and Aya. "Something big's going down. If I were you, I'd keep my eyes open, and my gun loaded." He walked out the door.

Jake smiled grimly. "Well, at least we know our job security is in good shape."

*****

…Holding Cell, Shelter…

Eve kicked the wall of her narrow cell. She had been penned up this small room for over twenty-four hours, her only interaction with the outside world a small slit through which her food was slid. She wanted desperately to go home, to be with her big sis again. She hated this place.

The little girl sat down on the edge of her bed, focusing her mind on the outside hallway. One boon to being brought back to the Shelter was that her mental abilities, sealed since almost three years ago, had resurfaced. She had spent the last few hours slowly chipping away at the barriers surrounding the mind of the GOLEM that was guarding her. She had almost reached it, but she didn't dare move to quickly. That man, Bowman, was far to powerful. He would most certainly detect her if she tried to force her way into the cyborg's brain.

As she mused over these thoughts, an almost audible click echoed through her mind. She was in.

She started by searching through it's memory, looking for anything useful. One thing about cybernetic brains was how well ordered they are. Human minds are jumbled messes, with bits of information scattered throughout the brain, along with memories, emotions, and random data. Cyborg brains are perfectly ordered, with all relevant data grouped together in their memory nodes. It made searching for floor plans a breeze.

Once she was finished, she had lifted a full map of the Shelter, all the GOLEM patrol routes, and access to the GOLEM wireless data network. She filed the access codes for the latter in her mind for later use. She didn't want to risk detection just yet.

*****

…Computer Lab, Shelter…

Yoshida looked up from his cup of coffee at the computer screen. "What the hell…?"

No.12, who had been leaning against one of the walls, turned his camera lens at him. "What is it?"

Yoshida typed a string of keystrokes into his laptop. "I don't know. Pawn GOLEM No.273 reported a malfunction. Something about a 'Memory Record Disruption'."

"Should I have him replaced?"

Yoshida shook his head. "Naw. It's just guarding the little girl. A minor storage error isn't cause for alarm."

No.12 nodded. "Affirmative."

*****

…Aya's Apartment Complex, LA…

Aya opened the car door, and waved goodbye to Jake. After his car had the ill fortune to be melted by Aya's rampant mitochondria, MIST had been kind enough to lend him a rental for the next few weeks. A navy-blue 2001 Civic was the best car they could let him have, so he went for it. Aya could tell his missed his '65 Mustang, though.

Aya closed her coat against the chill breeze, and walked into her apartment complex. She greeted a few of her neighbors in passing, and headed to the elevator.

After a short ride, she walked down the hallway to her apartment. Once she reached her room, she felt a slight chill. Ignoring it, she opened the door.

Inside, all the lights were off. She entered into her living room, and went to turn on a light. Just as she was about to flick the lamp on, a hand darted out of the darkness and closed around her wrist. She tried to pull away, but the man's grip was too strong.

Getting vaguely annoyed, she summoned a massive static electric charge from her mitochondria. Whoever this moron was, he was gonna get a big surprise.

She stopped, however, when him speak.

"Aya, it's me!" Kyle Madigan's voice hissed through the darkness.

"Kyle!?" Aya threw her arms around him. "Oh my god… I've missed you so much!"

Kyle held Aya close, laughing. "I thought I'd never see you again."

Aya pulled back slightly. "Why'd you leave?"

Kyle took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you. All I can say is that I'm back working for the Government.."

Aya rolled her eyes. "Great. Like I haven't heard **that** at all lately."

"What?"

"Nothing." Aya hugged him. "It's just so good to see you again."

The door suddenly opened, and Aya saw a flailing Jake stumble inside. "…goddamn it! Friggn' assmunches… couldn't tell me where Aya's room is…" His head moved back and forth, searching through the inky blackness. "Holy f*** it's dark in here." He reached over into the kitchen and turned on a light.

Aya and Kyle were blinded momentarily by the sudden flash of light. Jake blinked a couple of times then looked at the two lovers in the center of the room. "…Oh, shit. Did I walk in on something? I'm sorry." He started to walk out.

Aya disengaged herself from Kyle. "No, Jake. It's alright." She turned to Kyle. "Kyle Madigan, meet Jakob Brant."

Kyle extended his hand. "Pleased to meet you."

Jake grasped it. "Likewise." He looked at Aya. "This the dude you were talking about?"

Kyle looked rather bemused. "You were talking about me?"

Aya sighed. "Yes to both your questions. Jake is my new partner, in case you were wondering."

Kyle nodded. "Oh, I see. You been taking good care of my Aya?"

Jake shrugged. "More or less."

Aya snorted. "Less rather than more, as it turns out. I take care of myself." She looked at Jake. "Was there a reason you stopped by?"

"Yeah. Rupie wants us down at MIST on the double. I couldn't catch you on your cell-phone, and I figured you might need a lift."

Aya smiled. "Thank you, Jake. I appreciate it.

Jake nodded, then ducked back out the door.

Kyle half-smiled. "A very interesting fellow."

Aya laughed. "Yeah, he's a little hard to get used to." She stopped, then looked at Kyle. "So… I'm willing to bet this isn't just a social call, is it?"

Kyle looked grim. "No, it's not. It turns out the people I work for now have heard about your investigation. And, to put it mildly, are more than just a little upset about it."

Aya backed away. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that I breached protocol to even tell you about this. If you don't close the case immediately, then you and your partner will disappear. Permanently."

Aya scowled. "Is that a threat?"

Kyle rubbed his temples. "No, it's not that. I'm just warning you. I couldn't stand to see anything happen to you…"

The woman backed away further, then started walking towards the door. "You know what? I'm starting to get just a little fed up with everyone stringing me along with little bits of information." She turned around. "You let yourself in, so you can let yourself out." She walked out the door, then slammed it shut behind her.

Kyle looked after her sadly. "I'm sorry, Aya…"

*****


End file.
